Cutting tool



(2. S. KNAUF CUTTING TOOL Filed March 26, 1941 May 12, 1942.

F u/ a R Y H E Lu mK N N R W5 ,0 5 MP8. r, a fl E W Width.

Patented May 12, 1942 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CUTTINGTOOL Charles-S.Knauf, Chicago, 11].

Application March 26, 1941, Serial No. 385,377

4 Claims.

This invention relates to cutting tools in general and more particularlyto tools for cutting roofing material, such as roofing felt, roofingpaper, or the like.

Roofing felt, roofing paper, or the like, generally is sold in the formof a roll of a standard It is frequently necessary to obtain a strip ofa fraction of thewidth of the roll. In cutting a strip from a roll it isdifiicult to maintain the cutting knife at a fixed distance from theedge of the roll which is necessary to obtain a cut strip of uniformwidth. Furthermore, the cut edge of the strip is generally ragged due tothe diiiiculties in maintaining the cutting knife in the hand always atthe same proper angle. Also, the hand knife frequently cuts into thebase or support on which the roll rests. It is an object of the presentinvention to provide a cutting tool which will overcome the abovedifiiculties and which can cut a strip of any desired width from a rollor sheet of such material.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a tool thathas means for guiding the cutting knife and maintaining it at anadjustably fixed distance from the edge of the roll so that the cutstrip will be of uniform width throughout its length. I

It is a still further object of the present inven- 1 ing a part thereof.

it can be readily removed. and replaced when the knifeedge becomes dullor' is worn out.

The attainment of the above and further objects of the present inventionwill be apparent from the following specification taken in conjunctionwith the accompanying drawing form- In the drawing: Figure l is aperspective view illustrating the tool of the present invention in use;

Figure 2 isa front View of the tool in use; Figure 3 is an enlarged sideView of the cutting part of the tool;

Figure 4 is a fragmentary sectional taken on the lined-4 of Figure 3;and

Figure 5 is an enlarged end view of the cutting knife. 1

Reference may now be had more particularly to Figures 1, 2 and 3. Inthese figures I indicates a roll of roofing felt of a standard width,

View

from which is to be cut a strip 2 of a fractional tion to provide such acutting tool which can' easily and readily be adjusted to adjust thewidth of the strip being cut. 7

It is a still further object of the present invention to provide such acutting tool with a cutting knife that cannot injure the surface thatsupports the strip being cut, Such strips, preparatory to being cut, arepositioned on the floor or on the roof. If the cutting tool consists ofa knife-like edge that bears down upon the strip and cuts by penetratingthrough the strip, then there is danger that the point of the knife,which penetrates the strip, will cut' thesubjacent roofing or othersupporting surface. with one of the features of the present inventionthe cutting knife is so arranged that it has a non-cutting surface whichis supported upon In accordance and moves across the surface subjacentto the rough usage without any reasonable likelihood of injury to thetool.

It is a still further object of the present invention to provide acutting tool of the above mentioned character having a cutting knifewhich is removably mounted on the tool so that part of the width of theroll. The tool 3 for effecting the cutting action comprises an inclinedhandle portion 4, the lower end 5 of which is bent at an obtuse anglethereto and has a knife blade ,1 removably secured thereto in anydesired manner, as by a machine screw 8 which passes through a washer 9and through the knife blade and into an extension In at the forward partof the tool. The knife blade rests against the flat surface of theextension l0 and bears against a ledge 'II which holds the knife bladefirmly against tilting. The lower end 5 has a rectangular slot l3 formedtherein into which is fitted snugly a rectangular metal guiding strip orbar 14 which extends at right angles to the handle portion and is weldedin place. A calibrated guidero'd l5 slides snugly in the slot [3 and issecured in place by an adjustable, thumb screw i! that threads throughthe porhas a scale 1'" thereon calibrated in any desired unit ofleng th,such as inches. One end of the guide rod is bent, as indicated at It,and has a small roller l9 securedin place as by .a rivet 20. The scale1' is calibrated in terms of units of length of distance of the knife 1from the roller 7 to the roller is is exactly equal to the width of thestril 2 to be cut from-the roll. Thecali ator gripping the handle 4merely walks back-- ward along the roll, pulling the tool 3 along, and

at the same time unrolling the roll behind him.

tion that the roller l9 continues to bear against the edge of the rollof roofing material thereby The operator maintains the tool in such aposimaintaining the knife at exactly the requisite distance from theedge of the roll, thus assuring exactly the requisite width of the cutstrip 2. During this cutting action the portion 24 glides along thesurface 28 on which the roll I rests. This surface may be the surfaceof'a roof towhich the cut strip is to be applied. Since the surface 24is blunt edged and rounded it cannot possibly cut into'the support 28,which may be of paper. 7

When the knife edge 26 becomes dull or chipped the operator can quicklyremove the blade for replacement with the cutting knife portion 25lowermost, in cutting position, until such time as the knife can besharpened later in the factory.

It is to be noted that the knife is considerably thinner at the apex ofthe V of the cutting edges 2526, as indicated at 29. This facilitatesthe cutting action in that it reduces the extent to which the cut strip2 must be flexed sidewise away from the rest of the roofing from whichit is cut.

As illustrated. in Figure 1, the operator walks backward upon theunrolled portion of the roll of roofing I during the cutting operation.If desired the knife may be positioned on the holder with the cuttingedges 2526 directed away from the handle 4 instead of towards thehandle. When this is done the operator advances the tool 3 by a pushingaction, rather than by a pull. Under such circumstances the tool ofFigure 1 would be reversed so that the handle 4 is to the right of theguide rod l5 as seen in Figure 1 and the guide would engage the oppositeedge of the roll I, and the operator would stand on the unrolled part ofthe roofing roll and push the tool ahead. At that time the back of theknife would serve to unroll the roll I or, if desired, the roll I couldbe unrolled manually independently of the cutting tool. In any event,the edge of the roll of roofing material lies between the guide rod andthe portion l8 thereof and bears against the roller I9. The guide l5 maybe inserted into the slot l3 from'either side of the tool..

In compliance with the requirements of the patent statutes I have hereshown and described a preferred embodiment of my invention. It is,however, to be understood that the invention is not limited to theprecise construction here shown, the same being merely illustrative ofthe principles of the invention. What I consider new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent is:

1. A tool for cutting a strip of material of a constant width from' alength of material of a greater width, said tool comprising a handleportion, a cutting knife at the lower end of the handle portion, saidhandle having a non-circular slot at the lower end thereof, a guide rodhaving a non-circular section extending through the slot of' the handleportion and slidable in a direction .at right angles to the cutting edgeof the knife,-

a guide bar secured to the handle and bearing against the rod forholding it against angular tilting with respect to the handle said guiderod including means embracing an edge of the length of material forguiding the tool to maintain the knife edge at a fixed distance fromsaid edge during the cutting action.

2. A tool for cutting a strip of material of a constant width from alength of material of a greater width, said tool comprising a barconstituting the handle of the tool bent at an obtuse angle at its lowerend, a knife at the lower bent end of the bar, a guide rod slidablymounted at the lower bent portion and slidable at right angles to theknife, means for locking the guide rod in adjusted position, and meansfor holding the rod against tiltingwith respect to the supporting bar,said guide rod including means embracing the end of the material beingcut and engaging the edge thereof as the tool moves along the materialbeing cut.

' 3. A tool for cutting a strip from a length of roofing material, saidtool including a handle .portion having a knife at its lower end, thebottom'; edgeof the knifebeing slidable along the surface that supportsthe material to be cut and constituting a support for the lower end ofthe tool, said bottom edge of the knife being rounded and devoid ofsharp corners to prevent cutting into the surface supporting the roofingmaterial to be cut as the tool is drawn along such surface, the knifehaving a V-shapednotch the edges of which'are sharp to constitutecutting knife edges, and the lowermost part of the notch terminatingabove the lower edge of the knife, a guide rod at the end of the tooladjacent the knife and extending at right angles to the cutting edge ofthe knife, said guide rod including guiding means slidable along an edgeof the length of roofing material for guiding the tool for maintainingthe knife edge at a fixed distance" from the edge of the roofing lengthduring the cutting action and including a portion embracing the edge ofthe roofing length to 'keep the edge thereof from moving downout ofengagement with the guiding means, said guide rod being slidable atright angles to the cuttingedge of the knife to vary the distancebetween the knife and the guiding means to vary the width of the stripbeing cut, and means for locking the guiding rod in position.

4. A tool for cutting a strip from a length of roofing material, saidtool comprising a bar one end of which constitutes a handle, theopposite end of-the .bar being bent at an obtuse angle to the. rest ofthe bar and having a slot therethrough, a guide bar extending throughthe slot and rigidly secured to the first bar at substantiallythe'center of the guide bar, said guide bar having a fiat guiding surface, acalibrated guide rod extending through the slot and slidable therein andfitting snugly between the edge of the slot and the-guiding surface ofthe guide bar whereby the guide bar holds the calibrated guide rodagainst skewing with respect to the handle,

means for releasably securing the calibrated guide rod in position,acutting knife secured to the end of the bent portion of the firstmentioned bar, and" means at one end of said calibrated guide rod forengaging the edge of a strip of material being cut, whereby the distancebetween the edge of the strip and the cutting knife is de- 'termin'ed bythe position of the calibrated guide rod in -the slot. F i CHARLES S.KNAUF.

